Second Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture & Urban Planning (Vaals, the Netherlands), August 15-19, 1994

summary

This paper describes a Post Occupancy Evaluation methodology that assesses the spatial organiza-tion of hospital designs. It consists of measuring four concepts: distance, orientation (wayfinding), social contact and privacy. Thirteen standard hospital routes are examined, routes that are followed by four different user groups: visitors, in-patients, out-patients and hospital personnel. The results can be of use to facility managers, designers, hospital organizations and in the construction of future POE methodologies. The results of all studies conducted with this methodology may be collected to build a reference base, which could be used to increase our understanding of the spatial organization of hospitals. The methodology is first presented in short, and the results of four case studies of hospitals in The Netherlands are presented and discussed.